Soon after his birth, the Buxton family emigrated to America via the Zetland. After traveling from New Orleans, Louisiana to St. Lois, Missouri, John's mother contracted cholera and died in 1851. The Silvester family that they sailed with helped the Buxton family move west to Utah in 1852. John moved in with his uncle Joseph Buxton in the Salt Lake Valley.

In 1860, John started working with Robert Daft, a Gun Smith emigrant. Sometime after, John started working with ranchers in Utah, and made his way to Cache Valley.